SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2019
Good morning and welcome to the weekly news bulletin of the South African Radio League read by ................ [your name, call sign and QTH]
The South African Radio League broadcasts a news bulletin each Sunday in Afrikaans as well as English at 08:15 and 08:30 Central African Time respectively on HF as well as on various VHF and UHF repeaters around the country. The bulletin is relayed on Echolink by ZS6JPL. A podcast is available on the League website. Audio and text bulletins may be downloaded from the League website at www.sarl.org.za where you can also sign up to receive future bulletins by e-mail.
We start the bulletin this morning with news of three silent keys:
The key of Michael von der Heyden, ZR3M went silent on Friday 11 January 2019. We extend our condolences to his wife Salomie, family and friends.
The key of Dick Veldkamp, ZR4DV, a member of the Kimberley Amateur Radio Club, went silent on Friday 15 February 2019. We extend our condolences to his son Louis, ZR4DJL, family and friends.
The key of Albert von Wielligh, ZR6VON, a member of the Magalies Radio Club, went silent on Wednesday 27 March 2019. We extend our condolences to his family and friends.
The SARL News team apologises for the error in the Silent Key notification last Sunday. The call sign must read Peter Scott, ZR1KW.
PAUSE
In the news, today:
THE 2019 DAY OF THE RADIO AMATEUR ON 12 AND 13 APRIL
HELP NEEDED TO BROADCAST AMATEUR RADIO TODAY
and
THERE IS STILL AN OPPORTUNITY TO BOOK FOR SARL UNLOCKING AMATEUR RADIO TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM.
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
THE 2019 DAY OF THE RADIO AMATEUR ON 12 AND 13 APRIL
The SARL "Unlocking Amateur Radio Technology" Symposium will take place from 13:00 on Friday 12 April at the Protea Hotel in Stellenbosch. On Saturday morning 13 April, registration for the AGM will start at 07:00 at the Data Voice House Auditorium in the Techno Park. The AGM will start at 09:30 as well as the visit to JC le Roux for the partners.
During the afternoon, Dick, ZS6BUN will present The cost of a decibel on 2 m at the VHF/UHF meeting, while Sid, ZS5AYC will talk about his SOTA activations and Jonathan, ZS1ARB will talk about his hikes and SOTA activations in the Western Cape during the ZS SOTA meeting. Thereafter the wine tasting at Blaauwklippen. The SARL Awards Dinner will be held at the Devonvale Wine and Golf Estate in Bottelary Road. The organisers are looking at streaming the AGM via YouTube.
Looking at the registrations and proxy information received by the SARL Secretary, the record set by the 2018 AGM in Pretoria is not going to be broken. At present, the totals are below the 10% quorum needed to run the AGM. There seems to be an apathy amongst members in the Western Cape to attend the AGM and for members country wide to submit a proxy. Rule 6.3 of the Constitution and Rule 11.7 of the Rules tell us that a 15% quorum is required to change the Constitution and Rules and that a 10% quorum is required to transact other business at an AGM.
If there is no quorum present, there is no Annual General Meeting and the business of the AGM cannot be transacted. So, it is of utmost importance that you as a League Member attend the AGM in person or provide your proxy vote to a member who is attending. Get your registration form or proxy form in as soon as possible.
HELP NEEDED TO BROADCAST AMATEUR RADIO TODAY
Following the closure of the Bloemendal Shortwave Broadcasting station on 30 March 2019, Amateur Radio Today is no longer broadcast on 7 205 and 17 760 kHz on Sundays or on 4 895 kHz on Monday evenings. To increase coverage on HF in the Southern African area the SARL is looking at transmitting the programme on 7 MHz from more locations like the Western Cape, Free State and Gauteng to compliment the 7082 kHz transmission by Louis, ZS5LP from Durban. The frequencies being considered are in the band between 7 100 and 7 200 kHz. On Monday evenings 80 metres is also under consideration. Radio Amateurs willing to offer their services on Sundays at 10:00 CAT and/or on Monday evenings on 80 metres are invited to send their contact details to artoday@sarl.org.za.
YL BEAM AVAILABLE ON THE LEAGUE WEB SITE
Heather Holland, ZS5YH produces a month newsletter called YL Beam which is distributed via e-mail. You can now download a copy from the League website click on the link on the front page.
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
THERE IS STILL AN OPPORTUNITY TO BOOK FOR SARL UNLOCKING AMATEUR RADIO TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM.
If you have not yet booked for the "Unlocking Amateur Radio Technology" Symposium to be held on Friday 12 April at the Protea Hotel in Stellenbosch, you can do so until midnight on Tuesday 9 April. It is an event in the Western Cape that no one serious about expanding their participation and fun in amateur radio should miss. The programme starts at 13:00 with registration and presentations and the demonstration starts at 14:00. The technical part of the programme is followed by snacks and drinks at 19:30.
There are still a few seats at the sponsored price of R250 available. Full details and the registration form are available on the SARL web at www.sarl.org.za. The programme includes amongst others: Software Defined Radio, The West Coast propagation phenomena, developing a VHF reverse beacon network, F'Sati's latest satellite, Deep space communication, Operating the first Amateur Radio Geostationary Satellite, The Morningstar Remote Station, Understanding WSPR and all the weak signals modes that culminated in FT8. Reserve your seat today, you won't regret it. Events like this do not happen every day!
THE SARL 80 M QSO PARTY
Please take note that the e-mail address in the 2019 Blue Book for your log for the 80 m QSO Party is wrong. The Durban ARC changed the e-mail address in March 2019. Log sheets in MS Excel format ONLY must be submitted by 11 April 2019 by e-mail to louis.zs5lp@gmail.com.
COMET NAMED AFTER HAWAIIAN RADIO AMATEUR
Heather Flewelling, WH6FTQ recently had the honour of lending her name to a newly spotted comet. A planetary defence researcher, Flewelling is a relatively new amateur who upgraded to Amateur Extra class at the 2018 ARRL Field Day. She was working on an asteroid impact early warning system being developed by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy, funded by NASA, when she saw the comet. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) Minor Planet Centre designated Comet Flewelling (Comet 2019 D1) on 21 March.
Heather is quite active on VHF/UHF and she enjoys hiking and Summits on the Air activations. One of her greatest accomplishments is working with her team to create the Pan-STARRS1 astronomical database, the world's largest. Heathers background is in physics and she holds a PhD in that discipline from the University of Michigan. (ARRL Letter)
THE AGM OF THE HIBISCUS COAST AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
At a recent AGM of the Hibiscus Coast Amateur Radio Club, the following members were elected to the committee.
Chairman: Syd Tyler, ZS5AYC
Treasurer: Tim Larsen, ZS5TIM
Secretary: Gawie Hoon, ZS5R
Contest Manager: Jess Hawes, ZS5YAT
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to remain at low levels. Currently there are no sunspots visible. If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around one. With the recent equinox the 10 to 30 m bands will still provide some good DX fun. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.
Finally, a Diary of some upcoming events:
11 April - closing date for 80 m QSO logs.
12 April the SARL "Unlocking Amateur Radio Technology" Symposium and the closing date for 80 m QSO party logs.
13 April the SARL AGM and Awards Dinner.
15 April the closing date for RaDAR log sheets.
16 April monthly meeting of the Highway ARC.
18 April World Amateur Radio Day.
19 April Good Friday.
20 April the Autumn QRP Contest, the ZS4SRK Balloon Contest and the Two Oceans Marathon.
21 April Easter Sunday, the ZS4 Sprint and the May RAE Registration closes.
22 April Family Day.
27 April Freedom Day.
29 April the closing date for QRP, ZS4 Sprint and VHF/UHF Digital logs.
To conclude our bulletin a quick overview of our main news item:
The SARL "Unlocking Amateur Radio Technology" Symposium will take place from 13:00 on Friday 12 April at the Protea Hotel in Stellenbosch. On Saturday morning 13 April, registration for the AGM will start at 07:00 at the Data Voice House Auditorium in the Techno Park and the AGM will start at 09:30. The SARL Awards Dinner will be held at the Devonvale Wine and Golf Estate in Bottelary Road.
This concludes our bulletin for this morning.
Clubs and individuals are invited to submit news items of interest to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners, if possible, in both English and Afrikaans, by following the news inbox link on the South African Radio League web page. News items for inclusion in the bulletin should reach the news team no later than the Thursday preceding the bulletin date.
You are welcome to join us every Sunday morning for the weekly amateur radio program, 'Amateur Radio Today' at 10:00 Central African Time. The program can be heard on VHF and UHF repeaters countrywide and on 7 082 kHz lower side-band. There is also a podcast available from Dick Stratford, ZS6RO. We welcome your signal reports, comments and suggestions; please send these by e-mail to artoday@sarl.org.za.
You have listened to a news bulletin compiled by Dennis Green, ZS4BS, edited by Dave Reece, ZS1DFR and read by ..............
From the news team, best wishes for the week ahead and see you in Stellenbosch.
/EX
